Friday, June 17, 2011

Best New Zombie Tales is a reprint anthology comprising 19 short stories and one comic strip, and - I'm glad to report - very much lives up to its claim of including the very best in zombie fiction, although 'new' is perhaps inaccurate, as the publication dates of the tales herein go back as far as 2002. Regardless, there are some absolute gems to be found here, few of which appear to have been previously anthologised, Particular highlights, for me, include Jeff Strand's 'Immunity', Robert Swartwood's 'In the Land of the Blind', Gary McMahon's 'Nowhere People', 'Darkness Comprehended', by Harry Shannon & Gord Rollo, and Kim Paffenroth's 'On the Usefulness of Old Books' - all of which present fresh takes on tropes familiar to fans of zomfic - but really, there isn't a dud anywhere in this collection.

In short, Best New Zombie Tales is an absolute 'must own' for the zomfic aficionado. A great read.